The under-the-radar island getaways that are only a short flight away
ESPIRITU SANTO, VANUATU
Champagne Beach, Espiritu Santo island.
Espiritu Santo may be Vanuatu’s largest island but it receives a fraction of the visitors of the main island, Efate. And although it’s just a 50-minute flight from Port Vila, it still feels wild here. The island was a major US army base during World War II and you can dive one of the war’s most accessible wrecks, the SS President Coolidge, which rests just off the coast. You can also hike among Vanuatu’s tallest mountains, or swim in the electric-blue, crystal-clear pools created by mountain water filtering through underground caves. As for accommodation, there’s everything from budget-priced homestays to the luxury Ratua Private Island Resort.
WESTERN PROVINCE, SOLOMON ISLANDS
The Western Province of the Solomon Islands is very close to Australia (you can fly direct from Brisbane to Munda in two hours), yet almost unknown. There are 11 main islands in the archipelago, where you’ll find many of the Solomons’ best natural attractions, including the biggest uninhabited tropical island in the southern hemisphere, Tetepare. With its virgin rainforest and biodiverse reef system, this is one of the conservation jewels of the South Pacific. The capital and the biggest town in the Western Province, Gizo, is on the island of Ghizo; nearby are reasonably priced family resorts, like Fatboys, on their own tiny islands.
ATIU, COOK ISLANDS
Atiu, Cook Islands.
While Rarotonga has recently emerged as a mainstream holiday destination for Australians courtesy of four direct Jetstar flights from Sydney each week, it’s easy to find a Cook Island almost to yourself within a 45-minute flight. Atiu, for instance, receives fewer than 500 tourists a year and there are just three lodges on the island; the only other accommodation is homestays with local families. Littered with caves and secret swimming holes deep in the earth, Atiu is also home to some of the Pacific’s most endangered birds. While there are no lagoons, there are empty beaches across the island where you’ll find safe swimming spots.
SAVAI’I, SAMOA Samoa is already a long way off most travellers’ radar, and even those who make it hardly ever go to Savai’i, Samoa’s largest island, even though it’s only an hour by ferry from the island of Upolu, where the international airport is located. But Savai’i is Samoa at its most traditional, full of natural attractions such as powerful blowholes, some of the Pacific’s best beaches for swimming and snorkelling, and a spectacularly mountainous hinterland (the island is the largest shield volcano in the South Pacific). There are several resorts to stay at, including the luxurious Le Lagoto.
TAVEUNI, FIJI
Taveuni, Fiji.Credit: Getty Images
Most Australian travellers confine their holiday to Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, but the country is home to more than 300 islands. Taveuni – 80 minutes by plane from Nadi and dubbed Fiji’s “Garden Island” – is the prettiest of them all and an eco-tourist’s wildest dream. More than a third of the island is national park and there’s great hiking among Fiji’s tallest mountains, home to waterfalls you can swim beneath, in its wild volcanic interior. You’ll also find some of the South Pacific’s best dive sites in an area considered the soft coral capital of the world, as well as top-class surfing with far sparser crowds than Fiji’s more famous breaks.
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